Sacrifices must be made
by L. Paynter
Summary: A Pokemon Ranger teams up with Pokemon Trainer Red in a dual effort against Team Rocket and Team Plasma to determine the fate of the Pokemon race. M for future chapters
1. Intro

_This story takes place after the events at Cerise Island which were the battles of Team Rocket and the Elite Four._

_Rated M for future chapters, it will get much darker._

_Chapters will be updated every two to three days, I am continuing to write. Feel free to leave reviews or any ideas you'd like to see happen as the story develops._

The day was bright; the light from the sun was shining into Odette's window onto her face. She stirred slightly and rolled to the other side of the bed. A small Charmander is revealed as the covers shift. The little Pokemon stirs and hops onto Odette's torso and begins to shake her.

"Uhmmm Charmander what do you want? I'm sleeping." Odette was less than pleased.

"Char Char!" the Pokemon shouted.

"Alright alright… Food, I got it. Let's go downstairs." She finally agreed.

The kitchen was simply furnished with a small bar that shared space with the living room. Odette was rummaging through some cabinets while Charmander walked over to the fireplace in the living room and used his fire breath to light a fire to warm the cool room.

"Chaarrr." He sighed happily as he sat by the fire.

"Looks like we're going to have to go out for breakfast Charmander, or go shopping at least. We're out of food." Odette relayed as she sat onto the sofa with a cup of orange juice. "You want some OJ?" She extended the cup to the little Pokemon.

"Char!" He drank it with delight, his little paws grasping the sides of the cup hard as to not to drop it. The little Charmander was originally abandoned by a Charizard they were training for another trainer. The trainer had no idea that their Charizard was pregnant and did not want to keep the egg since her Charizard already made up its mind. Odette took the little egg in and took care of it until the little Charmander hatched out of it. Charmander held some potential yet when Odette tried to train it nothing was accomplished. It gained levels yet it never evolved. Charmander seemed content being who it was, so she never argued, yet it still bothered Devin.

Odette stood, reaching 5 feet 6 inches. She had long black hair that was usually in a long braid with bangs framing her face and a swoosh of bangs above her eyes. If she lets the braid out she has curly locks of hair that stay for days even after washing. She had green eyes and light tan skin and looked about 18 years old yet she had just turned 21. She usually wore a black vest over a green tank top and black cargo pants. Her shoes were black with green laces. The necklace around her neck was a small red pendant, a family heirloom given from her grandmother who passed away 8 months ago.

Charmander lead the way out the door as Odette opened it making sure to lock it behind her. She stepped out past the right side of the moderate sized house to look upon her Bellamy Pokemon Rescue Ranch. Ponyta were grazing in the fields while Diglett created little dirt hills for the baby Aron to play on. You could see the ponds in the distance, several Goldeen, Staryu and Spheal were splashing about merrily. Odette walked to the fence as one of her personal Pokemon, Gligar, flew up to the fence. Gligar was a flying type but he was allowed to roam the Ranch free of the Aviary, making sure everything was in order.

"Hey buddy, everything okay out there?" Odette asked it as she pet it behind it's ears.

"Gligar! Gli-gli!" The Gligar relayed.

"Good to hear." She said with a smile. "Me and Charmander are going out for a bit, any special requests?"

"Gligaaaar… Gli!"

"Ha, okay, even though you always ask for that, I should have known. Keep a watch on things while we're gone." She gave him a pat on the head and began walking away.

The Ranch was a few miles or so away from town; you could see it in the distance on top of the Ranch's hill that it was perched on. Charmander climbed into the basket on the front of Odette's scooter right before she took off for town.

The ride to Striaton City was short, riding down from the foothills north of the city was a breeze, it was getting back that was the problem. The town was bustling with activity, especially the market district. Biann, a young girl who runs the vegetable stall always gives Odette discounts so she comes by frequently. She picked up the usual from there and headed to the fruit stand. A grumpy dark skinned man named Mobaxi, with piercings and traditional tribal village tattoos, ran the stall and was usually quiet, except for today.

"Dem damned Plasma-kooks tink dey can tell us what ta do wif our Pokamon. "Let dem free" dey say. Bah! If my Twinny wants ta leave den she can do as she please, but I ain't lettin a bunch a fools dressed in shiny foil tell _us _what ta do." Mobaxi ranted as his Doduo's big fluffy heads peeked out from the back room.

"Who's Plasma?" Odette asked as she picked up bundle of chople berries that Gligar asked for. Charmander moved behind her leg as Mobaxi continued.

"Dey claim ta be da "Saviors" of Pokamon. Claimin dat dey can release Pokamon from da "slavery" of humons. Ha, an dey try ta talk ta a black man about slavery." Explained Mobaxi.

Odette was a bit disturbed yet curious about this Plasma character, but she feared for her Ranch most of all. The Bellamy Pokemon Rescue Ranch was dedicated to Pokemon search and rescue and rehabilitation as well as lending out well trained Pokemon to first time trainers. There are always many Pokemon on the ranch at a time.

The rest of Odette's shopping was completed cautiously, making sure little Charmander was with her every step. They hurried back to the Ranch to find Devin Martel, Odette's helper, outside of the house kicking at a shrub rambling angrily. He turned around as he heard them approaching.

"Thank god, Odette!" Devin ran to her and squeezed her in a tight embrace.

"What happened? What's wrong?" She was extremely worried, especially after what she heard in the city today.

Devin pulled back and looked in her eyes. "It's bad… All of the Pokemon, they're gone. Someone let them out or something, but even then why would they just run off like that? They were all either well trained or too injured to leave. Gligar and Duosion are still here though; they're in shock it seems. Good thing you have little Charmander with you."

They went inside the house; Officer Jenny was waiting for them on the couch with Duosion, a green psychic type pokemon and Gligar. "Odette I'm going to have to ask you a couple questions."


	2. Chapter 2: Incoming Plasma

_Chapter 2_

Professor Juniper was looking through her field notes when the phone rang. "Juniper here," she answered.

"Oh good you're in." it was Devin on the other line. "This is Devin from the Ranch, there's been an incident… uh, all of the Pokemon on the ranch have been stolen or ran away or something."

"What? I have new trainers that need Pokemon tomorrow, what the hell am I supposed to tell their parents?" Juniper tossed her notes on her desk, scattering the pile.

"Like I would know, but I was hoping to get your help on this, if you're too busy then…" Devin trailed off on the implication.

"No no no no no. I'll be there in an hour, let me make a few calls."

Juniper flopped down in her desk chair and sighed heavily. "Great, another fiasco I have to bother Oak with.." She picked the phone back up.

"Today will be a new dawning of the Pokemon and human eras!" A man in white pants and a white jacket with light green hair shouted from a podium above the crowd. The crowd cheered at the man's final words of his speech.

The man walked out of view behind a curtain. He was greeted by a man in a purple and gold cloak with an eye piece covering one of his red eyes. "You did good N." He said as he approached. "The plan today went well, all of the Pokemon fled with persuasion except two, a Gligar and a Duosion, I'm sure they'll figure it out on their own though that their master can't provide for them forever."

"Humans are disgusting.." N mumbled under his breath.

"Indeed.." Agreed Ghetsis with a wicked smile.

Odette paced the living room, Charmander was looking at her anxiously. "Damnit Devin.."

"Problem? Well, other than the obvious." He replied.

She sat down by him on the couch. "There was something… I left out when Officer Jenny was asking questions…"

He looked at her expectantly.

"I heard in the city today something about Plasma, like it was a person or a group or something, and that they wanted to free Pokemon from the slavery of humans. I didn't want to tell her because.. well I dunno, I just didn't." She stared at her feet with her hands sandwiched between her legs.

Devin put his arm around her. "Do you believe in what this Plasma character does?"

"What..? No, I mean, Pokemon should have the same freedom as humans, we just offer them shelter and a life with us as partners, friends, allies, family.." She looked down at Charmander, Gligar and Duosion.

"Then you obviously have more sense than they do. We can't change what others think but we can change how they act on what they believe."

"Let's go after them. " She suddenly declared.

"What-? No way, it's dangerous out there, especially with mad cultists running around letting Pokemon free. The Pokemon who were freed could be more dangerous than wild ones since they've had more training and are better at fighting." Devin was trying to be as convincing as he could, but he knew there was no changing her mind once she got an idea in her head.

"I know that, but if we find some of our own rescues they will remember us and we can bring them back home, not only that, but we need to find Plasma and confront them."

"Okay wait, we don't _need_ to do anything." Devin stood up and walked to the kitchen as if his last statement would solve everything. "What you need to do is stay here in your cozy little house while you let Officer Jenny and I do all the work."

"You're going to find them?" She walked over to him at the counter and gave him a long hug.

"I'll try as best I can, but no promises. My tracking skills aren't as good as yours." He was looking down at her, the coconut smell of her hair wafting into his nose as he breathed.

She looked up at him and quickly gave him a kiss on the cheek. "If you're going out, then the least I can do is stay here and investigate." She pulled away and started to head towards the stairs, little Charmander ran after her.

"Hey wait! Wha-." Devin was left stunned and a bit sheepish.

Devin was a year older than Odette and has had experience with women before; he just never expected this from her. She was hard headed and stubborn and would usually only show affection to her Pokemon. He didn't know much about her past; just that her grandmother passed away several months back. He was there for her for that and was there about four years previous helping with the Ranch. They quickly grew to be good friends, always making raising Pokemon to be a contest; except they were older now and grown. They weren't teenagers anymore and Devin was well aware… He just wondered if Odette knew.

Devin was about 6 feet tall, with shaggy sandy brown hair and a strong slender build. He usually wore plain black shirts so stains wouldn't show up from being around the Ranch. Some of his jeans were ripped from the Ranch which it seemed now to be the "in" thing to do anyways. He wore a brown leather braided bracelet on his left wrist; it was something that Odette had made him years ago, a few months after they first met. Whether she noticed he wore it every day or not, he did not know.

There was a time when Devin took time off for himself to travel and gain experience with other Pokemon in different regions. He and Odette often wrote letters back and forth via Pidgey. He came back to the Ranch about a year later with a whole new team of strong Pokemon and some new additions for the Ranch.

Devin broke himself from his trance and surveyed the room. Duosion was napping by the fire with Gligar. The coffee pot had some stale coffee in it from this afternoon when Officer Jenny was over. "Odette, you want some fresh coffee before I take off?" He asked loudly from the kitchen so she could hear. She didn't respond. "Odette..?" He climbed the stairs and immediately turned right, into her room. She was lying on her double bed, asleep. He smiled faintly and turned the lights off as he exited.

Professor Oak arrived at a red door belonging to the lab of Professor Juniper. She let the man in with enthusiasm and led him to her lounge.

"So what's this about Pokemon being stolen?" He asked her as he settled into a comfy looking chair. He discovered it wasn't really that comfy.

"Odette called me this morning and said something about Plasma." Juniper elaborated.

Oak developed a grim look on his face. "Nothing can go right can it?" He asked of no one. "Team Plasma I'm sure she meant."

"Team Plasma? Not Team Rocket?" Juniper inquired while offering Oak a cup of coffee.

"Thank you- yes, Team Plasma. Red has been following Team Rocket since we had discovered some suspicious activity in Kanto. So far they haven't done anything wrong but Red has been keeping an eye on them. He overheard a conversation they had with a man named Ghetsis. Apparently he holds a status in the Team Plasma association; we just don't know what kind. Threats were made between the two teams and something was said about 'Pokemon liberation.'" Oak explained while sipping from his cup.

"Then they're the ones that did this to the Ranch?"

"Most likely, but we better not jump to conclusions until we know more. Red calls me every few hours to let me know if anything has changed. He is in a very dangerous situation and is risking a lot by following Team Rocket like this."

"Hmm." Juniper thought on this for a moment. "I have someone that wants to investigate also. Devin, he's from the Ranch and I have a feeling Odette wants to go investigate also, just Devin says he won't let her and I'm supposed to stop her if she says otherwise." Juniper rolled her eyes at this. "That girl will do what she pleases anyways, so I don't see how saying anything will stop her."

Oak shifted in his seat, his discomfort began to show. "Devin can help Red if he'll accept it. I'll give you his location to give to him." Oak scribbled something down on one of the papers on the table in front of them. Juniper made a face, it was her field notes.


	3. Chapter 3: Bazinga!

_Chapter 3_

Devin left the early the next morning, headed towards Driftveil City. He had his team with him; his trusted Feraligatr who he's had since he was a baby Totodile, Sandslash, Scizor, Zangoose and Luxio who was the newest member to the team. He started south towards Wellspring Cave, hoping he could get to Driftveil without incident. The trail was rough yet the weather was warm. The trees rustled in the slight breeze, Devin welcomed the tousle of his damp sweaty hair. He thought about what Odette would say when she found out he left without saying good bye.

Odette walked into the kitchen to see a small note on the top of the coffee maker.

"I made you some coffee, hopefully it's still fresh when you wake up, you always sleep in late. I bet its 11:23 right now when you're reading this.

Anywho, I'm off to go meet up with Red.

See you later!

Love, Devin"

Odette tossed the note in the air; it landed face down on the counter. "Damn him." She looked at the clock, it was 8:17am.

A sound in the distance stirred a boy with a red hat from his cat nap under a tree in Driftveil. It came from south of the city. The townsfolk seemed restless and afraid, some of them scurried back to their homes, the rest tried to play it off as no big deal. _I guess this is something that happens often.._ hethought. "C'mon Pika, let's go see what's up." His Pikachu followed his fast pace as they headed south.

Odette scurried down the path, trying to catch up to Devin's trail. _I'm a trainer too damnit, I'm not going to sit back and let everyone else do all the work. I'm reliable; I've proved that so many times, why do they still baby me...?_ She thought. Little Charmander was keeping up with her pace; he was jumping rocks and scurrying about. That was the benefit of him being so small, he was quick and agile and barely anyone could actually catch him during mock battles. She hoped he would decide to grow up soon; she really wanted to teach him new things and show him new experiences. Although, this was bound to be a new one for both of them.

They soon reached Skyarrow Bridge. Charmander had never been here before; he looked down at the water with awe. There were many Swanna flying around creating patterns with their shadows. Charmander chased them on the ground and bumped his head on the side of the railing when flew too far away from the bridge.

She headed for the desert. It was windy and just plain obnoxious. She shielded Charmander in her jacket and held the collar up as far as it would go. Her braid was collecting sand by the second. _God, why'd they put a friggin desert here… I'm gonna need a shower._

The entrance to the building was freezing; he could see his breath despite it being dim. Pika had used flash so he could see, but it only went so far into the distance. He heard a rustle and could see a light up ahead. He snuck his way forward, being cautious as to not make any noise. If it was a Grunt then he would have a battle on his hands.

"Who's there?" The man up ahead whirled around with an illuminating Luxio ready to pounce with a thunder bolt. He wasn't wearing the standard Plasma uniform, naturally he was curious.

"Woah woah, tell your Luxio to calm down. I'm not Plasma." He explained.

"Then who are you?"

He stepped into the light, his read hat seeming bright as ever. "I'm Red, I'm investigating Team Rocket and Team Plasma."

The other man looked relieved. "Red! Glad to finally meet you, I'm Devin." He held out his hand for a hand shake. Their two Pokemon looked at each other and seemed to nod at each other. Devin explained everything that had transpired to Red.

"So Oak sent you to investigate with me? That's strange.. I didn't get a message. I guess it got lost, oh well." Red bent down and pet his new friends Luxio on the head. It seemed to purr an electrifying sound and rubbed up against his legs.

The two of them continued on together, dodging Plasma Grunts along the way to try to get to the person in charge of the operation.

Odette got there as soon as she could. The echo of the scrambling and fighting could almost be heard at the entrance. She took a few quick steps then quickened her pace as she heard Devin's Luxio's cry. What she saw she could not rationalize. A man who seemed to be in charge of Team Plasma was standing on top of a jutted out ledge in the middle of the cavern, belting orders to the rest of the Grunts scrambling around. Devin was perched on a smaller ledge on the left, and a boy with a red hat was perched on the right.

"Ahh goodie, the other little mouse has arrived." The man on the center ledge muttered smoothly as Odette entered. "Guards, seize her! And get that boy, how many times do I have to tell you?"

The boy in the red hat was surrounded by several of the Grunts Pokemon, including Devin's Luxio and Sandslash.

"Devin!" Odette shouted as a Plasma Grunt forcefully took her arm. Charmander bit the Grunts arm and he jerked away with a shout of pain. But more were swarming around her. She released Duosion and Gligar to help stand their ground.

Devin said nothing as he looked at her. The look on his face Odette could not discern; a mix of pain, confusion and concern.

Odette was distracted for a moment, giving a Grunt enough time to get her arms behind her back. She watched Devin turn his back and walk towards the man in the center. She didn't struggle, as much as she wanted to. Duosion and Gligar were scrambling with some of the Grunts Pokemon. Charmander attempted to bite and ember the Grunts who were tying up Odette. A Grunt swung at him, knocking him back onto a boulder. His little body collapsed, motionless.

She wanted to cry out for Charmander, for Devin, she wanted to let water fall from her eyes, but none of it would come out.


	4. Chapter 4: Captivate Me

_Chapter 4_

Odette woke several hours later. _They must have drugged me._ She thought as she stirred awake on a small ratty and torn mattress. She rose up, head pounding. The iron bars were oh so foreign to her. Behind the bars sat a Grunt at a desk, sitting casually with his feet up, flipping through a magazine. He raised his eyes to her as he heard her movement.

"Ahh so she's awake." He obviously stated as he repositioned himself to lean on his elbows on the desktop.

She pulled herself up to the bars. "Where am I? Where are my Pokemon and what happened to Devin?" She demanded.

"Ahahaha, Devin? Really? How couldja not know? It was _so_ obvious. He was actually just promoted to Admin; give him yer congrats when you see him again. Actually, where we're sending you, you might not get to, I'll tell him for ya." He said mockingly. "Yer Pokemon are fine." He held up a small mesh bag from the desk drawer that had five Pokeballs in it. "Now hush while I finish my article, it was just gettin good." He resumed his position on the desk.

Odette sobbed.

"Oh c'mon, really?" The Grunt tossed his magazine onto the desk, frustrated. "Look kid, it's up to our supervisor whether ya get to leave soon or not, so just be a good girl and be quiet. And don't get in our way again if he letcha leave. If yer good I'm sure he'll take pity on yer cute watery puppy dog eyes." He rolled his own eyes at this as he placed his head on his propped up hand. "Since ya got no one else ta talk to, whacher beef?"

She couldn't reply to him, her head rested on two bars, face turned down as she cried.

"Hey it's okay." An unknown voice tried to reassure her.

She looked over to the left where the voice seemed to come from. An arm waved through the bars in the cell next to her. "Who-who are you..?" She managed to choke out through the lump in her throat.

"I'm Red."

She stepped over to the wall of the cell and shook his hand through the bars. "It's good to finally meet you.. but it would be better if not under these circumstances."

"Your boy Devin is bad news ya know." He started. "I assume his plan was to lead us both here, well you at least, I was already searching, guess I'm the consolation prize."

"I don't understand why he would want to capture me.. after all we've been through." She slid down the side of the wall and sat with her knees to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs.

The Grunt looked up from his magazine that he had begun reading again. "Now that I don't know sweetheart."

The little Pokemon woke to a dark cave, the one he had been in previously when he was knocked out. _Char…_ the Charmander's head pounded. He rubbed his temples as he sat back onto the boulder he was originally knocked out on. He sat and gathered his strength for a bit and finally got up and scurried the way they had come. His instincts told him to go east, to find the Professor, or at least someone to help.

It had been days since Odette had seen sunlight, they brought her two meals a day, and the guard was always changing, they seemed to keep getting worse. She wondered if Devin would ever come and see her, but then again he really have to because of his new position within Plasma. The life he had lived with her was gone. She wondered if she would ever get an explanation.

The guard was changing; the new guard was big and brawny with a wicked look to his face. He sat at the desk and stared at Odette for a few minutes, sometimes licking the corner of his mouth. She shifted uncomfortably in the corner of the mattress. He suddenly stood up and walked over to her cell.

"Hey what're you-?" Red started. "You leave her alone, she did nothing to you." His arms hung out from the bars as he tried to grab the guard.

"Shut yer fuckin mouth _boy_." The guard spat at him mockingly. "Er else she'll get more than what I got planned." He was standing in front of Red now; he grabbed him by the collar and threw him back into the cell with minimal effort. "The more you talk, the worse off she'll be, runt.

Odette scurried as far back into the corner as she could to get away from the brute of a man. He unlocked the cell and then locked it behind him when he entered. He approached Odette slowly, his shadow created by the small light over the desk almost completely covering her. The man grabbed her by the back of the head, his hand wrapped up in her thick hair. "C'mon girlie, let's play." He snickered as he pulled her up forcefully. She tried to fight but he had her held good. He looked at her straight in the face, his bad breath filling her nostrils.

"What the hell are you doing to her?" Red screamed from the other cell.

"Oh that boy, he's gonna have you hurt up real good." He whispered to Odette. She tried to back away and tried not to whimper in pain as her hair was pulled even more. He grabbed her chin with his other hand and made her look at him. "We're gonna have some fun now-"

The door to the cell room flew open creating a slight breeze. "Put her down." The man in the door way ordered.

"Aw but boss we were about to have some fun.." The brute whined. He still held her in place as he turned his head to look towards the door.

Odette took this opportunity and kicked the brute in the nuts. He dropped her as he doubled over. She scrambled back up to the corner of the mattress. "Don't you ever touch me again." She declared menacingly. The words dripped from her mouth like poison. She almost startled herself with her own words; she has never had to sound like this before.

"That's what you get." The boss warned him from the door way. "Now get the hell out of there before I have to drag you out."

The brute crept to the cell door and hobbled to the desk chair and sat hunched over. The blow to his lower half was just enough to make his gut wrench.

Odette looked up at the boss as he approached her in her cell; it was Devin, clad in Plasma uniform with gelled hair. He reached to stroke her face, she pushed his hand away. "What the fuck is your problem? You put your brute in here to rape me, then you come in, to what, finish the job?"

"Odette it's not like that.." He began.

She interrupted. "I'm in a _cell_ Devin, I'm your prisoner, what else could it be like? You didn't even tell me.. you didn't explain.. you didn't tell me…" She trailed off and hunched herself in the corner, tears welling in her eyes, but she dared not cry.

He looked at her for a moment, regret in his eyes. "I didn't mean for it to be like this. I was following orders and-" He sighed. "Remember two years ago when I left to travel? I was gone for a while, a year or so I guess. That's the when I met Ghetsis and N. They showed me a world where Pokemon were free and separate from humans, how much happier they could be. I want that for them, I even want that for you.." His tone was sad and mellow.

"How can you be so stupid.." she whispered. "Devin, you are _using_ Pokemon to set them free? That makes no sense, and here you keep me and Red imprisoned when you're fighting for the liberation of Pokemon and you say you want me to be free? Bullshit, why the fuck am I here then if I'm so free?"

"Odette please hear me out. I want to take care of you, you can be by my side and we can work together to reach our goal. I love you…"

She looked at him when he said his last words. "Then why am I here if you love me so much? You can't capture me and then treat me like a Pokemon."

He wasn't sure what to say to her. He told her how he felt and what he wanted to fight for and he had somehow hoped that she would join him in his efforts. He realized now that he was a fool for thinking that she would ever give him another chance or join him. He stood up and walked out without answering her. "Don't touch her." He ordered the brute at the desk. "And tell that to the others, direct orders from Admin Martel."


End file.
